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Dryer Optimization: Be Smarter Than Your Dryer - continued

Maintenance or Subsistence?
Lubrication records should be noted on the inspection report as well. As mentioned earlier, always know where your manuals are located. The inspection report keeps all this information in one place for easy review and follow-up.

Make the fuel train a separate inspection report. Apply the above values to each component. Some component failures of the fuel train can be disastrous. Example: A fuel valve forced open with a pipe wrench can still be functional, but certainly not safe. When safety is top priority, an immediate action is called for and the dryer is maintained.

Here it is to be mentioned again the importance of knowing your primary go-to service providers. Without quick and easy access to this information and knowledge of their hours of support and locations, you will have more difficulty maintaining your priority discipline and make quick and often ill-advised repairs with escalating risk. You should maintain an updated list of your secondary support personnel as well. This may include field technicians or factory support. Verify these access numbers and contacts as a pre-season check as well. Current updated information can be invaluable for time and cost management.

Create a Detailed Checklist
Create a detailed checklist showing and identifying component areas with an overall view of each dryer in the facility. This checklist will serve as an extension of the pre-season inspection and any repairs. As repairs are done in season, note them on this form. If a dryer sheet repair is done, show location of repair and extent of repair. Remember, some dryers have an exterior cladding which does not allow clear view or access of dryer skins.  Therefore, these records may later prove to be your only reminder of off-season repairs to be completed. The detail of these notes can be personal preference but retention of basic information which will call for later action is invaluable.

The BUCK stops here. Facility managers should require a copy of these logs weekly or daily in season. The safe and profitable operations of any facility is ultimately the responsibility of the facility manager. He or she may or may not be a trained operator of the dryer or even knowledgeable of the many mechanical functions along with the dryer. However, a true maintenance checklist with a clear defined priority of maintenance values can assure proper information to this level for sound knowledgeable decisions.

FIRE!!!
Fire in a grain dryer can and frequently does result in costly losses, downtime, lost revenue and/or personal injury and occurs most often as a result of a wrong action or lack of action at the time of the incident. This subject remains one of the most elusive subject matters in the grain industry. Most input on the subject comes from those who have experienced a fire. This information is often in the form of what could have been done differently. Such lack of information and preparedness still exists today in the majority of grain facilities.

There are, however, some very outstanding plans in place. Most of them self instilled as a result of a facility fire but nonetheless have been well thought out.

I, too, will fall short of a detailed plan of action in the event of a fire because it has not yet been fully researched as to the do’s and don’ts of any given structure fire. I do highly recommend that this advance as a subject for future discovery on behalf of GEAPS or others in order to provide more absolute details for the industry.

I can however report on some findings and discussions had with various industry personnel and provide a list of suggestions to follow for better preparedness.

Know What to Do
Example: What To Do In Case of A Dryer Fire

• When you first detect or suspect a fire, the entire drying operation should be shut down, including grain flow into and out of the dryer.  The emergency controls may have previously completed this step.
• Shut off the electrical and fuel supply to the dryer.
• Do not try to cool a fire by running the dryer’s fan(s).  This will only add oxygen to the fire and intensify the fire.
• Never run grain from the dryer into the elevator or other storage if a fire is known or suspected.
• Locate the area of the fire.
• If the fire is in the interior of the dryer, but not in the grain column, extinguish it with a fire extinguisher or water hose as quickly as possible.  Poor housekeeping inside the dryer likely caused this type of fire.  After extinguishing the fire, check for damage to the dryer, and then thoroughly clean the dryer before attempting to restart it.
• If the fire is within the grain column, emergency discharge slide gates at the bottom of each column should be opened to permit fast dumping of the burning grain from the affected grain columns.  It is not necessary to dump the entire dryer, only those columns where burning grain is detected.  After the fire is extinguished, check the dryer for damage.
• A fire extinguisher should always be located at or near the dryer.  If a fire seems to be spreading out of control or if there is any question at all about the location of the fire or even if a fire exists, call the fire department.

Note:  Dryer fires often occur after the dryer is shut down for the night.  Always inspect the interior of a dryer after it has been shut down for possible hot spots or smoldering grain or trash. Continued >>

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